Methods and systems for navigating through virtual presentations of a body portion generated in medical studies

Abstract

A method and a system for navigating virtual presentations such as images of a body portion that are generated during medical examinations (studies). The method includes a step of providing in a user interface a list of studies, a list of presentations and a presentation of the body portion. The list of studies includes items that are characteristic for a kind of study. The list of presentations comprises items that are characteristic for a kind of presentation. The presentation displayed in the user interface depends on the item selected in the list of studies and the item selected in the list of presentations.

1 . A computer-implemented method for navigating through virtual presentations of a body portion, wherein the virtual presentations being generated in medical studies, the method comprises:
 a step of providing a list of studies comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of study;   a step of providing a list of presentations comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of presentation;   a step of providing a dataset, wherein the dataset comprises a study of a first kind of study comprising first virtual presentations and wherein the dataset comprises a study of a second kind of study comprising second virtual presentations;   a step of attributing first identifiers to the first virtual presentations or to a selection thereof and second identifiers to the second virtual presentations or to a selection thereof,   wherein a first identifier comprises a first sub-identifier of sub-identifiers of a first kind that represent the items of the list of studies in a unique manner and a second sub-identifier of sub-identifier of a second kind that represent the items of the list of presentations in a unique manner, wherein the first sub-identifier is equal for all first identifiers,   wherein a second identifier comprises a third sub-identifier being a sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the first kind and a fourth sub-identifier being a sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the second kind,   wherein the third sub-identifier is equal for all second identifiers,   wherein the first sub-identifier is different from the third sub-identifier;   a step of providing to a user via a user interface the list of studies or an adapted list of studies and the list of presentations or an adapted list of presentations,   wherein the user interface comprises an image viewer, a first view for the list of studies or the adapted list of studies, and a second view for the list of presentations or the adapted list of presentations;   a step of navigating through at least one of the first virtual presentations having attributed a first identifier and the second virtual presentations having attributed a second identifier by selecting an item of the list shown in the first view and by selecting an item of the list shown in the second view,   
       wherein the step of navigating comprises displaying a virtual presentation, 
       wherein the displayed virtual presentation has the sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the first kind that represents the item selected in the list of studies provided in the first view and the sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the second kind that represents the item selected in the list of presentations provided in the second view. 
     
     
         2 . A computer-executable method for creating unique identifiers for navigating through virtual presentations of a body portion, the virtual presentations being generated in medical studies, the method comprises:
 a step of providing a list of studies comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of study;   a step of providing a list of presentations comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of presentation;   a step of generating first identifiers, wherein a first identifier comprises a first sub-identifier of sub-identifier of a first kind that represent the items of the list of studies in a unique manner and a second sub-identifier of sub-identifier of a second kind that represent the items of the list of presentations in a unique manner.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the first sub-identifier is equal for all first identifiers, wherein the method comprises a step of generating second identifiers, wherein a second identifier comprises a third sub-identifier that is a sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the first kind and a fourth sub-identifier that is a sub-identifier of the sub-identifier of the second kind, wherein the third sub-identifier is equal for all second identifiers, and wherein the first sub-identifier is different from the third sub-identifier. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3  comprising:
 a step of accessing a dataset, wherein the dataset comprises a study of a first kind comprising first virtual presentations and wherein the dataset comprises a study of a second kind comprising second virtual presentations. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4  comprising:
 a step of attributing first identifiers to the first virtual presentations or to a selection thereof and second identifiers to the second virtual presentations or to a selection thereof, 
 wherein the step of attributing comprises a step of assigning the study of the first kind to its corresponding item of the list of studies and of assigning the study of the second kind to its corresponding item of the list of studies, and a step of assigning the first virtual presentations or the selection thereof to their corresponding items of the at least one item of the list of presentations and of assigning the second virtual presentations or the selection thereof to their corresponding items of the at least one item of the list of presentations. 
 
     
     
         6 . A computer-executable method for navigating through virtual presentations of a body portion, the virtual presentations being generated in medical studies, the method comprises:
 a step of creating unique identifiers using the method according to  claim 4 ;   a step of providing to a user via a user interface the list of studies or an adapted list of studies and the list of presentations or an adapted list of presentations,   wherein the user interface comprises an image viewer, a first view for the list of studies or the adapted list of studies, and a second view for the list of presentations or the adapted list of presentations;   a step of navigating through at least one of the first virtual presentations having attributed a first identifier and the second virtual presentations having attributed a second identifier by selecting an item of the list shown in the first view and by selecting an item of the list shown in the second view;   
       wherein the step of navigating comprises displaying a virtual presentation, wherein the displayed virtual presentation has the sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the first kind that represents the item selected in the list of studies provided in the first view and the sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the second kind that represents the item selected in the list of presentations provided in the second view. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the list shown in the first view is an ordered list, and the list shown in the second view is an ordered list. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the presentations having attributed a first or second identifier are linked to the items of the list shown in the first view and the items of the list shown in the second view via the attributed identifier. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising a step of providing a list of presentations for each study to be navigated in, wherein the list shown in the second view is the list of presentations or the adapted list of presentations that corresponds to the study selected by selecting an item of the list shown in the first view. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the selection of another item of the list shown in the first view than the currently selected item occurs at a fixed item in the list shown in the second view, and the selection of another item of the list shown in the second view than the currently selected item occurs at a fixed item in the list shown in the first view. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises tools allowing the user to at least one of:
 replace the presentation displayed in the image viewer with a replacement presentation that corresponds to the presentation assigned to the item arranged in the list shown in the second view precedingly or subsequently to the item to which the presentation displayed in the image viewer is assigned;   replace the presentation displayed in the image viewer with a replacement presentation that belongs to the study assigned to the item arranged in the list shown in the first view precedingly or subsequently to the item to which the study is assigned to which the presentation displayed in the image viewer belongs;   switch back and forth between displaying in the image viewer a first presentation and a second presentation, wherein the first presentation is a presentation assigned to a first item in the list shown in the second view and the second presentation is a presentation assigned to a second item in the list shown in the second view;   switch back and forth between displaying in the image viewer a first presentation and a second presentation, wherein the first presentation is a presentation of the study assigned to a first item in the list shown in the first view and the second presentation is a presentation of the study assigned to a second item in the list shown in the first view.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the items of the list of presentations are suitable for identifying presentations of different kinds of presentation by the items referring to settings available or used during acquisition of raw data or presentations and/or by the items referring to features available or used during processing of acquired raw data or acquired presentations. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the list of studies comprises unique items only and the list of presentations comprises unique items only. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the virtual presentations having attributed a first or second identifier are coregistered to one another, to one of the virtual presentations, or to a reference presentation. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the virtual presentations having attributed a first or second identifier are coregistered to a reference presentation and wherein an algorithm determines the reference presentation from a set of virtual presentations that comprises all presentations having attributed a first or second identifier. 
     
     
         16 . An evaluation system for virtual presentations of a body portion, the virtual presentations being generated in medical studies, the system comprises a memory, a communication unit, a controller, and a user interface, wherein;
 a list of studies comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of study and a list of presentations comprising at least one item that is characteristic for a kind of presentation, the list of studies and the list of presentations being stored in the memory;   the communication unit is configured to access a dataset, wherein the dataset comprises a study a first kind comprising first virtual presentations and wherein the dataset comprises a study of a second kind comprising second virtual presentations,   wherein first identifiers are attributed to the first virtual presentations or to a selection thereof,   and wherein second identifiers are attributed to the second virtual presentations or to a selection thereof,   wherein a first identifier comprises a first sub-identifier of sub-identifiers of a first kind that represent the items of the list of studies in a unique manner and a second sub-identifier of sub-identifiers of a second kind that represent the items of the list of presentations in a unique manner, wherein the first sub-identifier is equal for all first identifiers,   wherein a second identifier comprises a third sub-identifier being a sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the first kind and a fourth sub-identifier being a sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the second kind, wherein the third sub-identifier is equal for all second identifiers,   wherein the first sub-identifier is different from the third sub-identifier;   the user interface comprises an image viewer, a first view for providing the list of studies or an adapted list of studies, and a second view for providing the list of presentations or an adapted list of presentations,   wherein the user interface is configured to receive a user input, wherein the user input comprises selecting an item of the list shown in the first view and an item of the list shown in the second view;   the controller is configured to control the evaluation system such that a virtual presentation is displayed in the image viewer, wherein the displayed virtual presentation is the virtual presentation that has the sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the first kind that represents the item selected in the list of studies provided in the first view and the sub-identifier of the sub-identifiers of the second kind that represents the item selected in the list of presentations provided in the second view.   
     
     
         17 . A system for navigating through virtual presentations of a body portion, wherein the virtual presentations being generated in medical studies, the system comprises a controller and a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises an image viewer, a first view for providing a list of studies or an adapted list of studies, a second view for providing a list of presentations or an adapted list of presentations, and tools for selecting an item of the list shown in the first view and an item of the list shown in the second view, and wherein the system is configured to carry out a method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute the steps of the method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . A reproducible computer-readable signal encoding the computer program according to  claim 18 .